Sometimes its greatness of skill and creativity combined with greatness of character and desire to overcome hardship that make one famous, and the Charles Demuth Museum & Garden in Lancaster, PA is testimony to just that. An incredible artist, Demuth suffered from both lameness and severe diabetes (as an adult) but managed to study art around the globe and create thousands of works that can be seen in the Met and other prestigious locations. However, the Demuth Museum & Garden in Lancaster was once the home in which Demuth grew up, and the foundation has restored both the home and the garden to the beauty it was when Augusta, Demuth's mother, was the caretaker. Just next door is the Demuth Tobacco Shop, founded in 1770, making it the oldest tobacco shop in the area. Visitors to Lancaster hotels can plan a tour of both locations.
Many of Demuth's paintings were completed in his second floor studio/bedroom space, which has also been restored to look just as it did when the artist was a tenant. Out that window is a view that inspired many of the man's paintings. The garden and the steeple of the Lancaster Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity, which can be seen from the gardens, also served as subject matter. Other ideas came from his travels throughout the world, as well as from the amateur but respected photography of his father, Ferdinand. The Demuth house, now serving as the Demuth Museum & Garden, was built in the late 18th century, making it one of the oldest in Lancaster and once served as a Colonial tavern.
